Epic Love Story
by Tricki
Summary: MSR CH6: It only took one frighteningly crisp and resounding Bang to whip her into action. This was so wrong, epic love stories weren't supposed to end like this...
1. Raining

Hi everybody! I'm not sure if I should keep going with this or where I should go (Any ideas PM me please!)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jack Squat!

Bursts into song

Mandi, it's your birthday! Happy birthday Mandi!

Okay, so the guy on The Simpsons pretending to be Michael Jackson helped Bart write Lisa a birthday song and the girl from Australia pretending to be a writer (i.e. me) wrote Mandi a birthday story about one of her favourite ships!

Hope you like it Mands and I hope everyone else enjoys it! If you can be bothered I'd really love some reviews….

Love you all tons!

Tricki :0)

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"You know if this were a romantic movie it'd be pouring rain and I'd be kissing the man of my dreams in the middle of the street." Stella said as she and Mac walked to her apartment in the drizzling rain. They had just worked one of the longest shifts of their lives and decided to get dial in at Stella's place.

She half laughed at herself and then thought about what she'd said. What she really meant was

"If this were a romantic movie then _you and I _would be kissing in the pouring rain." and really what she ultimately meant was

"Will you just kiss me before I die of old age?" Maybe she should have just said that, he didn't seem like he was going to get the picture any other way. Mac was adorable, but possibly not perceptive enough (or willing) to see how in love with him she really was.

Mac looked up at the sky thoughtfully and sighed.

"I wish it was raining more then." He smiled softly and kissed the side of her head, which was something he hadn't done since they were both significantly younger. Her heart skipped three beats (as it always did whenever he touched her) and then her brow furrowed with confusion.

What did he mean by that?

If it were raining more then the man of her dreams would magically appear and start kissing her in the middle of the street?

If it were raining more she'd find someone else and move on from him?

If it were raining more _**he** _wouldkiss her in the middle of the street and finally make the move she'd been waiting for since the first day she met him?

That he loved her as much as she loved him?

Maybe it wasn't so out of the question anymore. He had come such a long way in the last few months, taken off his ring, his tie and undone his top button. In Stella's experience this was a definite sign that he was moving on, that he was slowly but surely becoming her Mac again.

_Why does this have to be so complicated? _She sighed.

A loud clap of thunder shook her out of her thoughts and they both looked up to see rain bucketing down onto them with absolute relentlessness.

Stella's entire face lit up with delight as the rain gradually loosened her curls until they were long, wet waves cascading down her back. She loved the rain.

"Speak of the devil!" She said happily, and laughed. She spun around gleefully under the rain, her tongue exposed to catch droplets, and stopped still when she caught sight of Mac's expression, was she wrong or was that quiet adoration sketched across his features (she wasn't wrong).

"I don't know what I'd do without you." He said softly and kissed her slowly and passionately and deliberately.

'Please don't hurt me' was what ran through her mind when he kissed her for the first time in the pouring rain on a busy New York street.

The next was a burst of 'Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow',

_I want our love to last forever but I'd rather you be mean than love and lie _

_I'd rather hear the truth than have to say goodbye _

_I'd rather take a blow, at least then I would know _

_but baby don't you break my heart slow. But baby don't you break my heart slow…_

And then insecurities just flooded her mind, pounding unceasingly, all trying to be heard…

'I don't think you're ready… do you really love me? Are you really the old Mac again? Are you sure you're ready? Because you can't take this back… _Please, please, please _don't want to take this back…. I want to be with you so much…….'

For the past four years they had been like a car with one side's wheels going slowly and one side going fast - they kept going in circles. She wasn't sure if he'd sped up to her level, she'd slowed down to his or if they'd just come to a point in the middle but whichever it was she loved it. Forwards was the only direction she wanted to go, she was **_SO_** sick of going in circles.

Stella gaped at him.

"Who are you and what have you done with the New Mac Taylor?"

"He never worked, Stel."

"Tell me about it! I had to put up with him for five years!" She joked exasperatedly.

"I can't go back there Stella. I don't want to be him anymore" He whispered against her ear and kissed it lightly, like it was a butterfly he was trying to give Mouth To Mouth.

"You're not him…You're still the Old Mac."

"Well then the Old Mac has good news." He smiled and linked his arms around her.

"Do tell." She said with a sly grin.

"He loves you a lot."

"Good." She whispered. "That's very good." She kissed him until they were both in serious need of air and realised that she had forgotten to say something…

"I forgot to tell you… I have good news too." She said.

"Really? Do tell." He mimicked her playfully.

"I love you a lot too."

"That is good news. Now can we please go inside before we get hypothermia?"

"You know if this was a romantic movie - " He silenced her with a kiss and then smiled at her.

"The credits would be rolling by now." He said with an amused look on his face and then pulled her into her hallway and hugged her close to him while they waited for the lift.

"What do you think you're doing?" She laughed.

"Well I don't know about you but I'm freezing."

"I'm pretty sure I can think of something to warm you up." She grinned slyly. And with that she opened her front door and thought of many creative ways of getting warm.

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Hours later (when they were both much warmer) she kissed him softly and asked the question that had been playing on her mind.

"Why now, Mac?"

"Because all good epic love stories start in the rain."


	2. Teasing

**By Tricki…**

Hello my pretties! It's that time of ...hmm It's that time again! Story posting time! This is just fluff but I'm working on something serious! But right now: Yay! Serious fluff!

My love goes to Mandi (my US sis), Becs my Charming buddy, and Angie my dear friend who has included me on her wonderful site http/brokenwings. advertising never hurt anyone!) and Dizzy Dreamer, you make me try harder.

Any errors are my bad (Particularly now, my spellcheck conked out:o(... ) so please forgive me for abusing this fabulous language!

Hope you like it,

I'll love you forever if you R&R

Tricki

_Do you really have to chew that pen? _Stella silently questioned Mac, half of her wanting him never to stop and the other half wanting to slap him for distracting her so badly (She loathed that he had so much control over her).

_God I hate professionalism! _She thought temperamentally. He was teasing her, she was certain of it, daring her to pounce on him just like she wanted to…

There he was, sitting behind the microscope, chewing his pen sexily and she wanted nothing more than to rip his clothes off and have her way with him right then and there, to Hell with the fact that anyone and everyone who was in the building could walk in, that pen was doing things to her, potentially dangerous things at that.

She smiled to herself at the idea of tearing off his lab coat and , still staring longingly at him…

"Stella? Stella?" Danny asked, waving his hand slowly past her eyes to see if she would respond (she didn't).

"Steeellllaaaa" He said in a sing-song voice.

"What?" She snapped, angry at being shaken out of her day dream.

"Sheesh! No need to bite my head off!" Danny whined. "I was just going to tell you that there's a call for you at the front desk." Stella shook her head to remind herself of where she was and what she was doing, or more to the point what she was supposed to be doing.

"Ah… thanks Dan." She said slightly foggily before getting off her stool and beginning to walk out of the trace lab to the front desk, curiously etched on her features.

"Hey don't mention it!" He called after her, "Bite my head off and be all absent and then just 'Thanks Dan,'… I mean what the hell do I gotta do around here to -?"

"Thankyou. Danny." She said firmly, in a way that said quite clearly 'Shut up now or I'm going to hurt you, badly'.

"Hey no prob, Stel. Don't mention it…"

"Shut you up." She said under her breath as she breezed through the door.

She took the phone from the receptionist, who was holding it out disinterestedly to her and put the mouthpiece to her shoulder.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"I dunno, some guy…" The receptionist said and picked up a nail file. Stella's eyes flashed with irritation and she raised the phone to her lips before saying routinely:

"Stella Bonasera."

"Stop staring at me!" Mac laughed, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Where are you?" She asked, positive that he had still been siting behind the microscope when she left, chewing that pen…

"In my office." Stella turned around to look through the glass walls of his office where he was standing with his back to her (Now minus one white lab coat and standing in just suit pants and a crisp blue shirt). She examined this current angle and smiled to herself wickedly.

"You're doing it again, aren't you!" He said in mock irritation.

"You could tell if you'd turn around." She said matter-of-factly (and very quietly), knowing it would be her turn to bend him to her own will if their eyes met.

"I'm trying to be discreet." He paused while (he presumed) she tried to think of a comeback but then realised she was just staring at him wistfully.

"I tried asking you about the hair but you were… In a world of your own?" She could feel him smirking at her through the phone.

"I'll make a deal with you." She said slyly.

"This sounds iffy." He joked.

"I'll tell you about the hair if you take me to dinner tonight." She lowered her voice, aware that the receptionist was eavesdropping (as usual).

"That's blackmail!" He laughed.

"Are you saying you don't _want _to make dinner for me?" She said threateningly.

"I'm saying I _do _want to make dinner for you, but I thought we agreed that at work we were just friends and this definitely overlaps with work…" She walked so she was as far away from June, the receptionist, as she could be without pulling the phone off the desk.

_I need to buy a cordless phone for this place… _She thought as she continued to inch away from June as discreetly as she could.

"Well you have to chew on that damn pen!" She whined into the phone.

"Are you saying this is _MY _fault?"

"Well it's certainly not my fault that you're sexy." She purred quietly.

"What do you want me to make for dinner?" He conceded. The truth was he was never _not _going to make her to dinner, he just wanted to make her think he wasn't going to (he liked teasing her).

"You pick. I really don't mind what you to cook, as long as it's something fabulous" With the underlying message of 'If you make something that isn't fabulous you'll be hearing about it until the day you die.' although, in fairness, she was joking (half joking at least).

"Now you have to tell me about the hair. That or I'm going to see Jane and ask her about it." He said evilly. Stella took the bait and said,

"Thanks for that but I have to go tell Mac about a hair sample in the lab." She raised her voice so the receptionist could hear. Mac laughed.

"I'll see you in there in a minute or so."

"Okay."

"I love you" He smiled.

"You too." She said affectionately then hung up and walked back into the lab.

"So?" He asked as he strode into the lab a few minutes later and pulled on his lab coat.

"The hair belongs to Jessler."

"We've got him." Mac smiled.

"We've got him. But we had him without the hair." Stella agreed.

"I know. I just like having all our bases covered."

"Fair enough…"

"Interrogation?" He asked.

"Interrogation." She nodded in agreement as they began to pack up the evidence and talk to the prime suspect. Jessler, as he was deemed a serial risk, was arrested before all the evidence had been processed (Thanks to Flack pulling a favour from a judge who he played poker with) and with only the evidence he had been arrested on (Fingerprints, shoeprints and some epitheliales) the case was sure to be dismissed, now it was a slam dunk.

"What are you, my echo?" He laughed. She hit his arm playfully and said,

"You think this is bad, just imagine if I was ignoring you…"

Mac, Stella and Flack sat behind the interrogation table and faced the suspect, Ted Jessler, and his lawyer, Fredrick Albany.

"You had no grounds to arrest my client. There's not one shred of credible evidence." Albany said emotionlessly.

"Mr Albany" Mac began at the same time as Stella said "Excuse me!" Everyone turned to look at her.

"Your client claimed to have never met Selena Rosenberg and yet we found his hairs on her body, his epitheliales on the rope used to strangle her, his skin and blood under her nails, a lock of her hair in his car with a ribbon tied around it, his boot prints around her body with a type of fertilizer that he mixes for only his use, that by the way we found in his car and all over his garage," She stopped and drew a breath, "His fingerprints on the dumpster she was found in _and _we matched his DNA to the DNA recovered from her rape kit… Tell me again how we have no evidence?" Albany looked taken aback. He sat for a moment, trying to find a way to argue that none of this was relevant or think of a good plea.

"You have a beautiful neck…" Ted Jessler said dangerously.

"Ted," Albany said warningly, knowing he was screwed if Ted didn't shut up.

"I would _so _enjoy seeing it with two feet of nylon rope around it…"

"We're done here." Mac said protectively as he stood up and lifted the case file from the desk. Flack shot Mac a confused look and then turned back to Jessler,

"I guess it's back to holdings until you get yourself a trial date."

"You know he'll get bail!" Albany said as he chased after Flack, who was leading Jessler back to holdings.

"Oh come on, Freddy" Flack said, knowing he hated the name, "Your boy Ted's getting remand and then going to Rikers for a long, long time."

"Don't you think that was a little abrupt? People are going to get suspicious…" She said with a warning edge to her voice.

"I don't care about that. I'm not going to sit by while he thinks about killing you! And I'm certainly not going to let _you _sit there while he thinks about killing you!" He said heatedly.

"Mac," She said soothingly.

"I know…" He took a few slow, calming breaths.

"You okay?" Stella asked with a semi-amused yet affectionate look on her face.

"Yeah…" He nodded eventually, "I just don't like people threatening your neck." He said, suppressing the urge to stroke her face.

"My neck's fine. See? No ligature marks." She joked, pulling back her hair so he could see. He smiled slightly and touched her hand surreptitiously.

"You're just as bad I am you know. Maybe worse…" She whispered and smiled at him. He sighed, smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry I'm overprotective of your neck…" He said smiling gently.

"I like you being overprotective of my neck. I think it's gorgeous." She smiled lovingly at him.

"I'd really like to hold you…" He said softly.

"I know, Mac. Soon enough…" She said, brushed his cheek tenderly and began to walk away.

He caught her hand and pulled her back to him so her ear was against his lips.

"Meet me in my office ten minutes after shift ends."

"You're on." She smiled and slipped away from him, desperately trying to conceal the broad smile on her face and failing miserably. Neither of them noticed Chad watching them, mouth agape and camera in hand…

While no one was paying attention, Mac dropped the Venetian blinds surrounding his glass office, almost everyone had left as soon as the shift ended so there would be very little room for gossiping and speculating as to what was going on.

Mac heard a knock on the door, checked his watch and said:

"Door's open," Stella slipped in quietly and shut the door behind herself.

"That was eerily punctual." Mac commented with a wicked grin on his face.

Stella rolled her eyes and joked, "You think you're _SO _funny, don't you Taylor?" He shrugged and half smiled.

"How's the neck?" He asked, trying - too - hard - to - be - casual - ly.

"Fine. Do you wanna check for yourself?" She asked, a devious smile passing over her lips.

He kissed her deeply then moved down to her neck where he pressed several kisses onto each side and ran his fingers delicately over it before declaring softly,

"It's still perfect."

"I think I'll keep you…" She grinned and kissed him.

"I was really worried today…" He said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Don't think about it, Mac… Let's just forget it. He's in Rikers now." She said and kissed the side of his head softly, running a hand through his hair.

"Deal…"

"You have no idea how sexy you looked today." She said softly and turned to meet his lips with her own.

"Well speaking of today, I have something for you." He said and, with an absolutely wicked look on his face, pulled a chewed pen out of his pocket. Stella smirked and plucked the pen out of his hand. Noticing there were no teeth marks on the pen she asked curiously,

"What were you doing to this thing?"

"Sucking it, fiddling with it, why?" Stella's eyes glinted mischievously.

"The pen's giving me ideas."

Just over an hour later, when they had finished dinner (which was fabulous, luckily for Mac) Stella stared at him with a suggestive look on her face.

"Do you want dessert?" He asked as he began to clear their plates. "I think we have ice cream." He walked back into the lounge room and repeated his question, thinking she hadn't heard him. "Stel, do you want dessert?" She stood up and walked over to him enticingly and said,

"Damn straight I want dessert, I have since eleven o'clock this morning."

She pulled the pen out of her pocket and said,

"I want you to kiss me like my tongue is this pen." She said deviously.

And with that she pressed her lips to his and backed him into the bedroom for some very appealing dessert, both blissfully unaware of what would face them next morning when they went to work…

Like it? Review! Lol, if you want...


	3. Hell Day

_**By Tricki…**_

Hello everybody! I'm soooooo X 1010000 that this took me so long! It would have been MUCH sooner but you know technology! Lol, let's just say I had technical difficulties!

If I stuffed up the forensic explanations in Stella's spiel - I am eternally sorry.

Love and thanks to Mandi, Becs my dear (for the beautiful beta-ing amongst other things), Angie, El, Kitty, Sammie / Dizzy Dreamer - You and Becs give me something to aspire to. Thank you for that. - Steeldust, Spaceape, MJ you rule, and everyone who reads this. I love you to bits!

Thank you all for the lovely reviews! Most I've ever gotten...

PS: A cookie for anyone who can work out what the Latin is!

**Summary: **It started out as a day with such possibility and just spiralled. Rule number one: A day can always get worse, never tempt fate on that point, it'll bite you.

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**Hell Day  
**

_The next day…_

"Morning Mac." Stella said, slipping into the lift exactly 3 minutes after Mac walked into the building.

"Good morning Stella."

"So, what did you do last night?" She said, trying to seem casual in front of the other lift dwellers.

"Nothing much. Work mostly." Stella suppressed a smile, he was actually quite a good actor.

"What kind of day do you think it's going to be?" Mac didn't wait a second to answer.

"Normal. Murders, rapes, assaults." She half laughed - half sighed and pushed her hair back.

"Amen to that." They laughed, both having momentarily forgotten that there were no normal days in their job…

* * *

When they stepped out of the lift they were greeted by a chorus of noise. 

"What's going on?" Stella muttered to Mac.

"I have no idea."

"Guys!" Stella yelled out, to no avail. Mac put his thumb and middle finger in his mouth and let out a high pitched whistle. Everyone fell silent.

"Now could somebody _please _tell me what's going on?"

"One at a time!" He bellowed as the chorus began to ring out again.

"The coffee machine broke!" Danny whined.

"Whoever broke the coffee machine is going to be suffering by the end of the day." Stella grizzled, subconsciously putting her hand on her gun.

"We've already got six cases." Hawkes said. Mac beckoned for the files.

"Terrific…. And?" He sighed.

"The newsletter's out." Chad said.

"We have a newsletter?" Mac asked, eyebrow raised so high it almost met his hairline.

"I've been E-Mailing it to you every week for the past two years AND printing it and putting it in the outbox in the break room." Chad said, the hurt evident on his face.

"Oh _right_!" Stella said, everyone catching her drift and making affirmative noises.

"Anything else?"

"Jessler got bail." Flack announced grimly as he stepped out of the lift and walked towards the assembly.

"How!" Mac asked indignantly, spinning on his heel to face the young detective.

"The judge decided he wasn't a flight risk. Apparently he plays golf with Jessler's daddy." He practically spat.

"Could this day get any worse?" Mac groaned, rubbing his temples.

"The NYPD Police Commissioner is coming to look at the lab today!" Someone piped up excitedly.

"Would've been nice if the stupid Director could've given us some notice-" Stella hissed.

"Stella, _not _now." Mac muttered at her. The assembly collectively smiled at that, causing Stella to shoot them a look which clearly said "What the hell do you think you're looking at?".

"When?" Mac said, trying to figure out some sort of plan.

"Twenty minutes." Aiden said. Mac let out a deep breath that he didn't realise he was holding.

"Alright," He said finally, "Stella I want you and Aiden on the rape/attempted murder, Danny, you're on the burglary and Hawkes you're with me on the murder." He passed out manila folders and everyone organised themselves with their current partner.

"What about the rest?"

"They can wait." Mac said. It was going to be a long day.

"Well?" Mac asked and everyone began to scatter except for Stella and Chad.

"Don't forget the newsletter!" Chad said, passing one to both Mac and Stella. Stella flicked through it disinterestedly but stopped when she saw a picture of them.

"Well. We made the newsletter."

"Well there was a one in five chance that one of us would be in it." He replied dismissively.

"No. I mean _**we** _made the newsletter." She said, slightly numbly.

"What?"

"Page 4." Mac opened the newsletter to page 4 and swallowed hard. There they were in a heart shaped photo, his lips against his partner's ear, their bodies touching, both smiling and looking generally far too intimate.

"Shit." Mac breathed.

"Hmm… Shit indeed." Stella agreed as she read the short article alongside the photo:

_CSIs Find Love:_

_It seems to this dashingly handsome young Laboratory Technician come journalist come photographer that supervisor and widow, Mac Taylor has found love again with his partner, friend and confidante, Stella Bonasera. Yesterday they were spotted sharing an intimate moment after Stella was threatened by a suspect. I suppose what they say is true, amor actually does omnes vincit, even hard assed-ness._

_Words and photography by the one and only,_

_Chad_

"I'm going to _kill _the little weasel!" Stella fumed and scrunched the newsletter in her fist.

"No you're not." Mac said simply as both their pagers went off. "You got the same as me?"

"'Everyone in the break room now.'?" She asked. Mac nodded.

"So murderers get to run free while we play trick pony for the Chief of Police." Stella commented distantly.

"As if you don't idolise him." Mac laughed as Stella slapped his arm playfully.

* * *

There were two kinds of prominent energy in the break room: 

Excitement and anger.

Half the room was twittering about the NYPD Police Commissioner coming to their "Little lab" (_Jesus, _Stella thought, _it's only one of the best equipped forensic labs in the country…_) and the other half of the room was squawking irritably about how they should be working and not entertaining "Some fat cat paper pusher looking for a photo op".

The effect was oddly musical, Stella mused. She herself was somewhat conflicted, granted there were cases to be solved but how often did you get the chance to meet the NYPD Police Chief Commissioner?

"Attention!" The Director said, earning a collective look of disdain from the assembly. There were no mixed feelings about the Director.

"I have the great pleasure of introducing you to Mister Raymond Kelly, the New York City Police Commissioner." The assembly clapped warmly. "This is day shift supervisor, Detective Mac Taylor, he'll be showing you around."

"Nice to meet you." Mac said, shaking his hand.

"You too, Detective." He said, smiling politely. Mac's first impression was of a nice guy and he trusted his first impression.

"Would you like a copy of our newsletter, sir?" Chad asked, attempting to pass the Commissioner a newsletter before Stella dived in front of him and shook the hand waiting to receive the newsletter.

"This is such a pleasure, sir, I'm Stella Bonasera."

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." He grinned, shaking her hand slowly.

"Will you be showing me around too?"

"I actually have a case." She said graciously.

"Mrs Bonasera -"

"Miss," She corrected.

"Miss Bonasera, it would make me _very _happy." Mac bristled slightly, in reality he was overprotective of much more than just her neck. She glanced at the Director uncertainly. He nodded.

"Sure," She smiled. "I'd love to."

* * *

"So what made you decide to come visit our lab?" Mac asked as he, the Director, the Police Commissioner and Stella strolled down the corridor. 

"Bragging rights." He grinned. "This is one of the best forensic labs in the country and I'm very proud to say that it's part of my department." Mac and Stella both grinned to themselves, they liked the Commissioner.

"Well thank you for the funding." Mac smiled.

"Well it's obviously been worth it" He said, gazing around the trace lab in awe. "Not to sound completely scientifically incompetent but what do all these machines do?" He asked, the look on his face akin to that of a small child in Harrods. Stella and Mac smiled, they loved when people took an interest in their work.

"Well," Stella began enthusiastically. Mac smiled as Stella began to zip around the room like a mini tornado and explain the various pieces of equipment.

_Cyclone Stella the Super CSI, _He thought to himself affectionately.

"This is the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer, the Gas Chromatograph heats the sample when it's in a solution then it travels through an internal column and, based on the speed it travels, we can narrow down the possible substances. It then is transported into the Mass Spectrometer which splits and analyses individual components of a substance based on the mass of its separate molecules. This is the Electrophoresismachine, it works on the principal that, when electrically charged, different particles move at different speeds through a special type of gel. We use it in DNA fingerprinting amongst other things. This is the Electroanalysis machine, it runs an electric current through chemicals to break them down into their individual components. This is the Spectrometer, it uses lights of different wavelengths to help us determine things based on the way they react under, usually, infrared or ultraviolet light, such as bodily fluids fluoresce under ultra violet lights. This is the Electron Microscope, one of the highest power microscopes available, which uses the power of electron beams and an electron lens to magnify images up to 2 million times and the Light or Optical Microscope which uses light control and lenses to magnify an image…."

At that moment Stella's pager went off, she pulled the small device off of her belt and read the message,

_Case break, need your opinion when you're done. Why aren't you answering your cell?_

_-Aiden_

_Cell? _Stella thought to herself. Then it hit her, she'd left it in her locker the night before.

"Would you excuse me for one second? I need to grab something from the locker room." Stella said then slipped out of the lab and into the locker room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind her. She turned to her locker, opening it mechanically and swinging open the door, she was far too preoccupied with finding her phone to hear the subtle sound of runners on concrete.

Before she knew what was happening there was a knife to her throat and her feet were dangling above the ground. She thought to her training, she couldn't reach his instep, couldn't break his nose, if she broke his pinky it was likely she would end up with a five inch blade in her carotid artery, about the only thing she could do was reach her gun but getting it out without alerting him to that fact held risks, risks too great to contend with.

_Not now, _She silently begged. _Please, please, not now, not like THIS…. Not now that I have something to lose…_

"Are you going to beg me for your life, Stella?" A male voice that she instantly recognised as Ted Jessler's asked in a seductive tone which made her want to dry retch.

"No." She said softly, mentally followed by _You son of a bitch. _'Never play the killer's game' ran through her head in the voice of one of her psych teachers. She was suddenly _very _glad she went to that lecture.

"Do you _want _to die then?" He asked, pushing the knife slightly further into her neck.

"No." She whispered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. _Keep him talking… _"Do you?"

"No, I don't. I have _far _too much to live for." He said and licked her earlobe. She shuddered and swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure (which she was furious at herself for ever losing). _Come on, Mac, I need you now._

_

* * *

_

Mac Taylor looked at his watch, not that he was being overprotective, but Stella had been gone too long. Something was up, that feeling he had in his gut had been correct enough times for him to trust it.

"Excuse me for a minute." Mac said, turning towards the locker room.

The door was slightly ajar. The room felt wrong. Something was off. Something was marginally off in a way that seemed to throw Mac Taylor's whole cosmos off. Mac listened patiently.

"How many have there been?" He heard Stella ask, her voice wavering, she sounded like she was crying.

"You….Will be my fifth. My favourite number." The unmistakeable drawl of Ted Jessler answered. Mac stepped away quietly. He needed help, he wasn't about to risk Stella's life by acting on impulse. He could be logical and objective, even in a situation like this.

_That's why you already have your gun drawn, right Mac? _The little voice in his head probed. Okay, so maybe, right now, objectivity wasn't a skill he possessed.

"Flack" Mac said, catching the younger detective in the hallway.

"Hey Mac, how's the tour going?" He asked.

"Jessler has Stella." He said, ignoring Flack's question.

"What! Where?"

"In the locker room. I want you to go in through the back, I'll go in from the front and distract him. The slightest wrong move from him I want you to fire, if the shot's clear." Mac said, only just managing to conceal the fury and terror about to bubble over the edges.

"You don't have to say that twice." Flack muttered as both men began to walk to their separate positions.

* * *

"Let her go, Jessler." Mac said calmly as he walked through the locker room door, gun raised and aimed dead centre of Jessler's head. 

"Gutsy move, Detective Taylor. I think you should have thought this one through a bit more. What do they say? People do crazy things when they're in love." Mac glanced to Stella and he felt a tug at his heart, she looked so helpless. Her eyes had tears in them, waiting to fall, and silent amusement shining through despite the situation.

_Never a dull day in this job, huh Mac? _She silently joked with him. Mac's eyes shot back to Jessler, hatred pounding out of them like concentrated laser beams.

"Let. Her. Go." Mac said menacingly.

"Where's the fun in that, Detective?" He joked, angling the knife differently. Within seconds Flack was behind him, gun pressed against the back of Jessler's head. The crisp sound of a nine millimetre being cocked resonated around the locker room like a branch cracking on a silent morning.

"Drop the knife and no fucking around." Mac snarled. Stella would have laughed if her windpipe wasn't being constricted, there were only several occasions she had heard him use such strong language.

"You got me." Jessler laughed, dropping the knife but not releasing his grip on Stella. "You got me." Mac took his left hand from the grip of his gun and beckoned for Stella. Jessler released her and raised his hands in surrender as Flack dug the gun into his head while Stella scurried to Mac's waiting arm. Mac's aim never wavered for a second.

Flack slapped handcuffs around Jessler's wrists roughly, deliberately over tightening them.

"Get him out of here, Flack." Mac said, only lowering his gun when Flack began to march Jessler to the locker room door. Mac slipped his gun back into its holster and wrapped both his arms around Stella protectively, comfortingly. Silent tears had long before begun to fall from her eyes.

"Shhh, baby, it's okay. I've got you." He whispered, stroking her curls tenderly. "Stel, you're safe, I promise."

"I…Kept thinking…about you…about us. I'm finally happy." She said raggedly. Mac half laughed and whispered

"Stel, that's a good thing."

"I…we only just…and" She inhaled shakily.

"I won't let him hurt you, Stella." He said certainly, squeezing her a little tighter…

* * *

"Detective what in hell happened in there!" The Director demanded as a swearing Don Flack breezed past him in the corridor with a restrained Ted Jessler being shoved along in front of him. 

"He tried to kill Stella, Mac'll fill you in." He said, never losing focus and never missing an opportunity to inflict pain on Jessler in some way.

* * *

"Taylor, what the hell -!" The Director barged into the locker room, the Commissioner close in tow. He yelled but stopped short when he caught sight of Mac and Stella. 

"I love you, Stella. It's going to be okay." Mac murmured.

"Detectives do you realise how against regulation this is!" He bellowed, steam practically shooting out his ears and fire on the verge of flooding out his mouth.

"Not now, Jonathan," Mac said quietly, not moving a muscle or even looking up. _You've got guts, Taylor, calling the Director by his first name to his face._ Stella thought a wry smile on her lips, tears still rolling down her face.

"Give them a break, Jon." Commissioner Kelly said quietly, putting his hand on the Director's shoulder to calm him.

"With all due respect, Commissioner, it is my job to enforce the rules of this lab." The Commissioner gave the Director a warning look.

"With all due respect, it is _my _job to decide if _you _get to do _your _job. They've been through enough. Let them be." He said firmly. The Director took his cue and piped down.

"I think we should give them a few minutes alone." Commissioner Kelly said. "Don't you Jonathan?"

"Yes. Good idea, Commissioner." He said calmly. "I just want to say," he began, his hand on the doorknob. "That I will allow this relationship. But if, for one moment, your relationship interferes with your work or the integrity of this lab, it will not be tolerated." He said in his standard no-nonsense tone. Mac nodded, finally looking up.

"There are four things that I would protect at _any _cost

The honour of this country, the safety of this city, the integrity of this lab and Stella. Our relationship won't interfere." Mac said certainly. The Director nodded in acknowledgment then left the room silently.

"Commissioner?" Mac asked quietly as he turned to leave the room. He turned back and gazed at Mac intently.

"Thank you." Mac said earnestly.

"My pleasure." He smiled, taking in the scene in front of him. "Take care of each other."

"We will." Mac replied, smiling back at the Commissioner.

"Good. I'll tell Jonathan that you're getting the rest of the day off." He said softly with an endearing, mischievous tone to his voice.

"Thank you, Commissioner Kelly." Stella managed. He nodded and left the locker room, a gentle smile gracing his features.

Mac kissed the top of Stella's head and tangled his fingers in her curls.

"I would have walked for you today." He stated.

"What?" Stella asked, not lifting her head from the crook of Mac's neck.

"I would have quit if he said that I couldn't be with you."

"But you love this job." She said, angling her head so that she was looking at him. Her tears had finally subsided.

"I love you more." He replied, his eyes twinkling with adoration.

"I would have walked for you too." She said quietly. Mac grazed Stella's lips with his own tenderly. She trembled slightly in his arms and clung to the front of his shirt. It worried him to see the woman he knew to be so strong trembling in front of his eyes.

"I was so scared I was going to lose you today." Mac whispered, nuzzling into her curls.

"Me too." She muttered. "I love you _so _much."

"I love you too." He gently took her head in his hands, holding her slightly away from himself so he could examine her. It was the first time he had noticed the tiny nick on her neck, a small amount of blood dribbling from it.

"Oh Stella…" He breathed and kissed the small wound lovingly, subtly removing the blood while he did.

"Oh great!" She laughed. "I fell in love with a vampire didn't I?" He smiled and pressed his lips to her forehead. He felt her inhale deeply and begin to relax.

"Do you want to get lunch or just go home?"

"Just go home." She replied, not opening her eyes.

"Are you okay to go out there?" He asked. She took a half step back, smiled, rubbed her eyes and pushed her hair back.

"Do I look like a wreck?" She asked.

"No." He laughed and rubbed a tear-trail from her cheek.

"Okay. Let's get out of here." She said.

Mac and Stella walked down the hall towards the lift, Mac holding Stella close to his body protectively.

"So, what do you think's gonna happen tomorrow?" Danny asked Mac off-handedly as Mac and Stella walked past him.

"After a day like today let's worry about tomorrow, tomorrow" Mac smirked, stopping beside Danny.

"You coming?" Stella asked from the lift, a slight smile on her tearstained face.

"Yeah." He replied then turned to Danny again. "Duty calls." He said before joining Stella in the lift.

"Oh, so you mind, do you, Mac?" Danny grinned. As the doors were closing Mac slid his arm around Stella's waist, smiled contently and said,

"Not a bit."

* * *

So, who deserves a cookie? 


	4. The Day After The Day Before

Hello my lovelies! Sorry this took a while but here it is: D

Much love to Becs - Thanks for the Beta-ing, Mandi, Angie, El and MJ. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this and everyone who has reviewed Polaroids : )

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

_**By Tricki…**_

"You doing okay?" Mac asked over takeaway spaghetti marinara.

"Mhm, fine." She said absently as she paced. She prowled back and forth like a distressed lion, slowly, almost subconsciously. He hated the way she prowled because it meant that something was getting to her. Tonight that something was easier to figure out than usual.

"Stel?"

"What?" She snapped.

"He's in jail now." Mac said gently.

"I'm not _afraid_." She said resentfully.

"Come and sit down."

"Don't baby me, Mac! For Christ's sake I can take care of myself." She growled.

"I'm not trying to baby you, Stella. I'm just worried." He said, the shock apparent in his tone.

"Yeah, well do us both a favour and stop it. I've survived this long and I'm certainly not going to wither and die without you. I'm going to bed." She fumed and stormed off, slamming the bedroom door behind her. Mac sat dazed in her wake.

* * *

"They say rescue sex is fifty times better than make up sex." Danny said suggestively as he slid up to Stella the next morning. 

"Your point being?" Stella asked, not lifting her head from the file she was reading.

"_You two_ didn't have any." Danny answered, his tone curious. She looked at him, her eyes narrowed. Was it possible he'd had their apartment bugged?

"What makes you think that?" She asked, wording her question carefully. He cleared his throat and nodded his head at Mac, who was breezing past them purposefully. He was blank, his expression revealing nothing. She didn't see how that told Danny anything except that he was on a mission. She was, again, considering having the apartment swept for bugs. She looked back to him, silently communicating 'I don't get it.'

"Think about it."

She watched Mac talk to the receptionist and kept drawing a blank. He was wearing his navy blue suit, his usual shoes, a plain white shirt, given he hadn't worn that blue tie for a while but - "Oh," She breathed subconsciously.

She thought about what Danny was suggesting and looked at him sceptically.

"He hasn't worn a tie for months and we certainly haven't… been… every day since then." She said more than a little awkwardly. She wasn't awkward with sex, but discussing her and Mac's sex life with Danny, of all people, was somehow profoundly awkward. Danny looked down and cleared his throat, regaining his composure.

"Look, Stel, I don't know - I'm not a shrink, maybe he takes the thing off when he's happy? All I'm saying is that there's definitely something wrong with him." Danny said, gesturing at Mac to accentuate his point.

"So what are you suggesting?"

"Stella I'm not going to tell you how to run your life but you need to talk to him."

* * *

Somewhere between eight thirty and twelve the day had gotten lost. She did _mean _to talk to Mac but things just kept coming up. Okay, maybe she was relieved that things kept coming up, she wanted to make up with Mac, she _hated _fighting with him, but apologies had never been her strong point. At all. But, in spite of that, she had steeled herself to the point where she was ready to talk to him. Just as she was finishing repacking her evidence Hawkes appeared in the doorway. 

"Stella?" He asked.

"Hey Hawkes. I heard you snagged a pretty juicy case." She said playfully as she resealed the evidence bag in her hand.

"Yeah, brother's sleeping with the sister in law who's having the other brother's baby - and I don't mean her husband…. Twisted people." He snickered then turned serious again. "Anyway Mac wants you to meet him at the DA's office."

"Why didn't he tell me that himself?" Stella asked, irritation becoming apparent in her stance. Would it have killed him to walk twenty five meters down the hall?

"I dunno. He's been kind of strange all day."

"Hm." Stella said shortly. "Thanks Hawkes." Her fleeting smile was tight and insincere. She peeled off her lab coat and strode out of the lab, one thought running through her head: He was goddamn avoiding her!

* * *

"Nice to see that after working together for over ten years we're mature enough to discuss things like this." Stella said as she walked into the District Attorney's office, flopping into the chair beside him and placing her handbag at her feet. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mac asked stiffly.

"Nothing." Stella replied innocently. "I just thought we got over sending messengers in fifth grade." She muttered.

"And I thought I was the one who needed time to sort himself out."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" She snapped, turning to him with her eyes flickering dangerously.

"It means - "

"Sorry to keep you waiting." District Attorney Latham said as he strolled into his office purposefully.

"How are we today?" He asked once his was sat behind his desk.

"Fine." The two said in unison.

"Good. So, we might as well cut to the chase. One or both of you has to testify on the Jessler case. I'm thinking that it would be better if Mac testified for this one, Stella. The jury is more likely to see him as objective; your… incident with Jessler could potentially be very damaging to the jury. Someone involved saying the evidence is conclusive is much less convincing than someone objective saying exactly the same."

"Fine with me." Stella said, shrugging slightly.

"Mac, are you okay with that?"

"How much do you know about yesterday?"

"As much as anyone. Congratulations, by the way." He said amicably.

"Thanks." The pair replied unenthusiastically.

"What's your concern?" He asked, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on them.

"Being in a relationship with one of his victims doesn't make me look particularly objective." Mac half smiled.

"We should be able to work around that. It might end up being a bit of a challenge but… You were planning to testify to that effect before yesterday's incident occurred; we can make the jury see that." He nodded; the cogs turning in his brain were almost audible as he began to plot the case out in his head.

"So. Tell me what happened yesterday…"

* * *

The discussion of the previous day's events with a third party did nothing to relieve the tension between the couple - Mac was still hostile and Stella was still righteously indignant. She almost died yesterday for god's sakes! Didn't she deserve a _little _leniency and understanding? 

The two of them managed to avoid each other for the rest of the day, except the lift-ride to the garage.

"What did you mean up there?" Stella said eventually.

"When we started this it was on my terms because I was the one who had to move on. It took us years because I wasn't ready for this relationship. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you're the one who's not ready for us." He said shortly.

"So we have _one _fight and you suddenly think we should cut and run?"

"That's not what I said."

"Well you might as well have! You're losing it over _nothing_!"

"Last time I checked _I _wasn't the one attacking the person I allegedly love for caring!" He said heatedly.

"Get fucked." She hissed as she barged out of the lift and stormed towards her car.

* * *

"How's it going?" Danny asked nonchalantly. 

"Just peachy, Dan. You?" Stella answered furiously, slamming a cupboard and ripping open a drawer.

"Better than you obviously. You talked to Mac yet?"

"Talk wasn't exactly the word I'd use." She hissed, kicking the drawer back in and righting herself so she was facing Danny. She was breathing hard, her body was tense, and her eyes were gleaming dangerously.

"How much coffee have you had today?" He gazed over the top of his glasses at her.

"Sense of humour minus ten, Danny. I'm not in the mood." She snapped, resuming her search for the… what was she looking for again?

"You know what pisses me off? You two _obviously _love each other and neither of you are grown up enough to put your pride aside and talk about what the hell is going on.

This is the first relationship he's been in since his wife died, and this is the first real risk you've taken in a long time so I get that you're both scared, but you need to get over yourselves!" He said heatedly. Stella looked back to him, studying his eyes carefully.

He was young, but he was smart and he was good at assessing people. On top of that he was right.

"Do you, ah, do you know where the phenothalene is? I can't find any." She forced a laugh. Danny snickered, took two steps towards her - he was standing extremely close, was he going to kiss her? - and reached behind her, stepping back with a bottle in his hand.

"It would have bitten you."

'_Thank you_' She mouthed, he winked.

"For a second there I thought you were going to kiss me." She laughed, relief evident on her features.

"Stella, please, I'm _very_ aware that you're taken." He grinned before strolling out of the lab. Stella shook her head and smiled, leaning on the bench behind her heavily.

She shouldn't have been so aggressive with Mac, she had no idea why she was, it made no sense, drinking would have made sense, talking would have made sense, joking would have made sense, crying would have made sense, hell, even yelling made sense - some asshole almost killed her, but yelling at Mac was odd…

…unless he struck a nerve - maybe she was a little scared. She was never very good at admitting she was scared, she had spent her entire career trying to convince everyone that she was "Just as good as the guys" - _They_ didn't sob when they had guns to their heads, well at least not all of them - but she had fallen apart and she hated herself for it so she had taken it out on the person she was closest to. She might have sucked at admitting she was scared but she was even worse at apologising.

_There's a time for overcoming all fears, huh Stel?_ She thought to herself as she began her journey to Mac's office.

* * *

There was a timid knock at Mac's glass office door. Without being invited Stella slipped into the room. 

"Are you going to yell at me again? Because if you are I'm not in the mood." Mac said bluntly, rummaging through his desk.

"No. I actually came to" She took a deep breath, "Apologise." She finished, glancing up to meet his eye uncomfortably.

"Oh?" He said, standing still and looking at her.

"We know each other too well to do this." She said softly.

"I'm not the one 'doing this'." He laughed humourlessly.

"Mac, please. I'm used to being independent! Yesterday was weird for me."

"Do you honestly think that if we weren't sleeping together I wouldn't have done exactly the same thing I did yesterday?" He asked, his eyebrows raised in amazement.

"I've known you more than a quarter of my life, you're my best friend - the woman I _love_ - and you almost died yesterday. You weren't the only one who was scared." She smiled affectionately and apologetically.

"I'm sorry."

"You said that already." He said gently - his way of saying 'I forgive you'. She walked towards him and snaked her arms around his neck.

"I love you." She muttered.

"I love you too." He smiled and kissed her temple. She watched him for a moment; the bags under his eyes bothered her.

"You look tired." She stated.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've spent the night on the couch." He laughed.

"Not that long if you count that one." She said, gesturing to the four foot long couch against one wall of his office. He laughed.

"There are different kinds of sleeping on the couch. I haven't been in the doghouse for a long time."

"And it'll be a long time before you do again." She smiled.

"You say that now, but in a few weeks…" He trailed off suggestively.

"In a few weeks this will have been a long time a go." She said softly and began to undo his tie. She shoved it unceremoniously into her back pocket and flicked his top button open gracefully.

"You know rescue sex is supposed to be fifty times better than makeup sex." She said after a long pause.

"Really?" His eyebrows raised.

"We're due for both." She said enticingly and leaned up to kiss him.

They didn't realise anyone else was in the room until they cleared their throat. Both detectives turned to face the unknown entrant.

"Detective Bonasera?" A neatly dressed woman enquired.

"Yes." Stella said turning so she was fully facing the woman.

"You've been served." She said, passing Stella a summons before walking out.

"Why does the DA want both of us to testify?" Mac asked. Was he wrong or had they decided just that morning that he should be the witness?

"He doesn't. This is from the defence." She said, her tone slightly blank, her brow slightly furrowed.

"Why does Jessler's lawyer want you to be a witness?" He asked, stepping up to read over her shoulder.

"I don't know. It's not like I'm going to make him look good."

"But you might - "

"Make CSI look bad." She finished his thought.

"I'm calling the DA. Maybe we can contest it or - " He said, picking up the phone from his desk.

"You know we can't contest this. I have to testify."

"Maybe he can find a loophole." Mac said as he dialled the number.

"I'll make you a deal. When his secretary says he's already gone home, we'll go home. I'll cook. You can decide what we do for the rest of the evening." She flashed him an evocative look as she fiddled with his favourite pen.

"Deal." He smiled as he listened to the phone ring out.

'_Hello, you've reached District Attorney's Latham's office._

_If you wish to call back, I'll be available between the hours of eight thirty A.M. and five thirty P.M., If you would like to leave a message, press '1'."_

Mac glared slightly at the phone and pressed the '1' button.

"This is Mac Taylor from CSI, listen Stella just got a summons from Jessler's defence attorney. Give me a call tomorrow morning. You have the number." He said and hung up.

"Was I right?" She asked slyly.

"Technically no. His secretary wasn't there either." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, since I'm so nice, I'll make you dinner anyway." She winked and stood up, readying herself to leave. Mac leaned against his filing cabinet and folded his arms, watching her thoughtfully.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Stella asked as she noticed Mac's reflective tone.

"What if next time doesn't end as well?" Mac's question made Stella stop short and furrow her brow.

"What if what doesn't end as well? What if I die?"

"What if we don't…" She glanced down, suddenly understanding what he meant. He wasn't sure one of them would always be big enough to apologise. They were both more than a little stubborn after all. Stella sighed and shuffled her foot thoughtfully, what was the right thing to say to that? She came up blank, nothing seemed eloquent enough -- except Joe Cocker…

"When the road is dark and you can no longer see, let my love throw a spark and have a little faith in me." She sang fondly. "Just trust me, we'll be fine."

"Okay." He smiled softly and took her hand. "I guess for the last few years I've been relying on science for almost everything. This is a little outside my comfort zone."

"I know." She nodded, brushing his cheek tenderly. "Mine too. Why don't we just take each day one at a time?"

"Deal." He agreed.

"And on that thread, I've never had rescue sex." She lowered her voice, her eyes sparkling. Mac grinned and kissed her slowly.

"I vote we make that top priority."


	5. Court Day

Hello my darlings! It's a short one but it's your job to decide if it's a good one. I just thought it needed a stabilizer after the last chapter.

Now the explanation: My precious baby, love of my life, perfect angel (yes, I mean my computer) BROKE! I'm talking hard disk reformatted and operating system reloaded kind of broken, so it took me a while to get it up. Sorry : )

Thanks & Love to Becs thanks for the betaing and sorry I haven't emailed yet! Mandi my darling US sis, El thanks for sticking by me, Angie you rock! MJ thanks for being my fan, and everyone who's reviewed. I love you all!

Sorry again and enjoy xoxoxoxox

_**By Tricki…**_

* * *

Court Day. The words kept running through her head. Court Day.

The day after his arrest Ted Jessler was arraigned and, to the surprise of everyone involved and everyone in the media, he had pled not guilty. It was later discovered that this was on the advice of his lawyer, Fredrick Albany. The case was being rushed. Time had been waived (Meaning the ten court day period in which lawyers with little faith in their cases- excuse me, who "Believed they could be more prepared" for their cases were able to look for new leads, evidence, suspects or anything else that could be relevant). None of them could work out why.

The Prelim (A basic trial to determine if the suspect could be guilty which concerned the people initially involved in the case such as the investigating officers - in this case, Mac, Stella and Flack.) had come and gone quickly after the arraignment, and the DA had miraculously been able to keep Stella out of it. They all assumed that she was the trump card Freddy was going to pull, that she was the reason he was so confident about the case, but the lack of her presence had successfully thwarted that theory. Now all they could do was wait… for today. Court Day. The moment of truth was approaching way too fast. It seemed like the last few days had gone in the blink of an eye. She could barely remember what had happened in them, just that they were leading to today.

She fastened her earring and examined herself in the mirror again, fidgeting with minor imperfections just to have something to do.

"Court Day." She sighed to herself.

"Stop it." Mac said as he joined her in the bathroom and kissed her temple.

"I can't help it." She muttered.

"I would say 'Don't worry', but we might have a repeat of last week." He joked.

"Shut up." She hit his arm, turned him to face her and tied his tie for him. He seemed to have somewhat lost his touch where the Windsor knot was concerned.

_Lack of practice. _She mused to herself, a soft smirk playing at her lips.

"Thank you." He smiled and kissed the back of her hand. Whoever said chivalry was dead?

"My pleasure." She replied and fluffed her hair one last time. He unfolded her hand and dropped a fine chain with a small charm on it into her palm.

"Here. For good luck." He said, just a little uncomfortably, as he folded her hand over it again. She lifted her hand to her face to examine the trinket, turning it over carefully. It was a small gold cube with six tiny diamonds in two neat rows of three on each side. Her brow furrowed, she was having a little trouble connecting the dots.

"It's a die." He said, picking up on her confusion. She smiled as he fastened it around her neck. "You can't lose when all you can roll is sixes." He smiled, looking at the small object hanging from her neck.

"Perfect." He smiled.

"Thank you." She said softly, stroking his cheek.

"My pleasure." He mimicked playfully. She leaned forward and kissed him deeply.

"I love it."

"Good." Mac smiled and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"We need to go."

"Right. Court Day." She nodded.

"Will you stop?" He laughed.

"I'm sorry! I don't even realise I'm doing it!" She said as they walked out of the bathroom, collecting their respective necessities. Mac helped Stella into her coat and she shrugged her handbag onto her shoulder. Mac held the door for her.

"I hate this skirt." She muttered, tugging it down as she walked.

"I don't." Mac smiled appreciatively.

"Eyes front, mister!" She ordered and shoved him so he was walking beside her rather than behind her.

"Yes, ma'am." He said as the pair stepped into the lift. Stella leaned up to his ear and muttered sultrily:

"And, Taylor, if you ever want to have sex again, I strongly suggest you don't call me 'ma'am'."

* * *

More ASAP love you all: D 


	6. The Tragedy That We Knew As The End ?

Over TWO MONTHS!!! Slap me now!!

This chapter was as much of a surprise to me as I'm sure it will be to you. Chapter 7 is already begun, so that shouldn't take me this long! lmao

Love to Becs for the speedy beta and all the rest of you - you know who you are ;-D

Enjoy, and please R&R

Tricki xoxoxox

* * *

**The Tragedy That We Knew As The End (?)

* * *

**

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do." She answered and was motioned to sit.

"Please state your name and occupation for the record."

"Stella Bonasera, I'm a detective with the NYPD; specifically a Crime Scene Investigator, level 3."

"What is your relationship with this case?"

"I was one of the investigating officers."

"Is it not true that you are also one of Mr Jessler's victims?"

"Objection!" The Defence attorney sang out indignantly.

"Rephrase your question counsellor." Judge Knowel, a handsome black man who Stella presumed was in his mid to late fifties, said neutrally.

"It's alright. I was not one of Ted Jessler's victims. His victims were carefully selected months in advance, each from the same bar. Ted Jessler did, however attack me in the CSI building." She said, her answer carefully worded, overusing Jessler's name to reinforce the idea in the jury's mind. D.A. Latham had decided early on that he needed to ask Stella every ugly question that could be asked, having the defence ask her could potentially land them in deep trouble.

"Would you please describe the attack?" For what felt like the millionth time, Stella went though the story of her encounter with Ted Jessler.

"What is your relationship with Detective Taylor?"

"Detective Taylor and I have known each other for around fifteen years. We've been in a relationship for the last few months. I trust him with my life, he's a brilliant officer."

"Has your relationship altered the way in which either of you approach your cases?"

"No."

"It seems to me that the events that occurred between you and the defendant would change Detective Taylor's objectivity – given your involvement. Can we trust Detective Taylor's future testimony?"

"Detective Taylor loves his job more than anything. He would never do anything to compromise it. He is the best CSI I have ever known."

"So, in your opinion has this case been compromised?"

"No. This is not a case which came down to interpretation; the evidence is _completely_ conclusive as to Ted Jessler's guilt." Stella answered certainly.

"Nothing further, Your Honour." Latham said and slid back into his chair, turning to face the Defence attorney with an analytical look on his face.

"So my client attacked you?" Albany asked.

"Yes."

"And you and your boyfriend are the only ones who can verify this?"

"No." Stella said, unfazed by Albany's line of questioning. "There are several security cameras in each room. The entire event is on several different video tapes, DVDs and a central hard disk." It may have sounded pedantic and anal but they needed to keep the lab's metaphorical ass covered.

"How can you say that this case hasn't been compromised? If that were someone I cared about I'd do everything in my power to have someone held accountable." Albany said.

"Objection! This is not about Mr Albany's opinion!"

"Sustained. The jury will disregard." Judge Knowel said firmly.

"No further questions." He said confidently. The seed of doubt had been planted.

"Next witness counsellor, you may step down, Detective."

"The prosecution calls Detective Mac Taylor as an expert witness."

Stella brushed Mac's hand as they passed on her way out and his way in; it was going to be an interesting day...

Stella had managed to sneak back into the gallery half way though Mac's testimony (missing all the case details, which she didn't really mind.), even though as a witness she wasn't meant to hear the other witnesses' testimony. She was done though, she was almost completely certain that she wasn't going to be recalled and besides, she was only listening to one little piece of the puzzle – if she and Mac had of wanted to give false testimony they would have worked it out before today.

"Detective Taylor. Detective Stella Bonasera stated under oath, and I quote, "Detective Taylor loves his job more than anything. He would never do anything to compromise it." Is that true?" Albany asked.

"No." Mac said simply, stirring whispers, gasps and chitchat in general from the gallery and jury. "I love her more than my job." He continued, catching her eye and holding the gaze. Goosebumps began to form on her body. She didn't think he could love anything or anyone more than his job – Claire maybe, his mother maybe, perfect coffee maybe (probably not on that one, actually) but certainly not _her_.

"So then isn't it reasonable to assume that you want Ted Jessler convicted?"

"I want Ted Jessler convicted because he is guilty of raping and murdering four women and attempting to kill a CSI."

"Oh, really? How many of these bodies have you recovered, Detective?"

"One." Mac answered, slightly grudgingly.

_Oh shit…_ Latham thought.

"No further questions."

"Detective Taylor, you're dismissed. Next witness counsellor." Mac rose slowly, a sinking feeling weighing on him. That did not go well.

"The prosecution calls Ted Jessler to the stand."

Jessler rose and began to walk to the stand. All heads turned as one of the gallery members stood up tearfully and pointed a gun at Jessler's head.

"You…" She sobbed, drawing in a deep breath hysterically. Mac began to approach her quietly and carefully, motioning the court security, and Stella, to stay back.

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!!!" She screamed, taking a menacing step forwards and cocking the gun.

"Why if it isn't Sarah Jamison, the one that got away." Jessler grinned dangerously.

"Shut up!" She hissed. She was completely on edge, every muscle tense, everything in her waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger.

"Sarah?" Mac said gently. As if in slow motion she spun on her heels, startled, and completely by accident, by biological reaction only, a sole muscle contraction –

_**Bang**_

– Her forefinger clenched and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet deep into Mac's abdomen. Stella sprinted to the front of the courthouse and reached Mac just as he hit the ground. She tore off her jacket, covered the bleeding hole in his abdomen with it and put all her weight on it. Sarah dropped the gun in shock and security swamped her.

"Mac? Mac! You are not going to die on me today Mac, talk to me…" But his breathing was too laboured for him to be able to make any sound other than a barely discernable "Stel"

"Stay with me, Mac." She begged (or was that demanded?), making strong eye contact, trying to stop him losing consciousness. Her own breathing became erratic as she began to cry – a tangled combination of anger, terror and frustration.

"You are not going to fucking die on me Mac!" She yelled at him as his eyes slid shut, and pressed harder on his wound.

"How did she get in here with that **fucking** _thing_?!" She barked at the security guards but they had no time to answer as a team of paramedics with a gurney burst through the courthouse doors. Stella was pushed out of the way, her blood sodden jacket thrown at her as the paramedics loaded Mac onto the gurney and wheeled him out, Stella ran after them and followed them into the ambulance.

"Miss, you can't – " One of them began.

"I'm coming." She said, leaving no room for argument.

"Stay down the end." He said and turned his attention back to Mac. Stella was banished to Mac's right ankle, but she knew it was better than nothing.

"Come on, Mac." She whispered, "Epic love stories aren't supposed to end like this."

"_Epic…"_ The word echoed through his head as that little voice began to speak up.

"You need to fight, Mac. For me. I love you." She continued.

"_Fight_

_Battle_

_It's all a battle._

_Our battle._

_Our epic…_

_Love_

_Love _her

_You're _in love_ with her._

_For her…_

_Do it for her."_

Stella kissed his ankle, the only part of him she could reach, and noticed that he was getting cold. She squeezed his leg; it wasn't supposed to end like this…

Something was squeezing his ankle. Some_one_ was squeezing his ankle. Someone familiar.

"_Stella…"_ Was his last coherent thought before there was a bang, a jolt and an overwhelming brightness.

* * *

R&R, Please. 


End file.
